Injuries caused by closing doors, windows and other means are not uncommon to toddlers and young children. An untold number of children have gotten one or more fingers pinched or smashed. Injuries to the fingers are preferably treated by immediately applying pressure to and/or cooling the injured limb. Cooling serves to reduce the flow of blood to the injured area so that subsequent swelling, inflammation, and trauma to the area is minimized. A small child's threshold for pain is practically nonexistent when a finger has been injured so the cooling method not only has to be quick and convenient, but it must have a comfortable touch to the injured part. Adults, like children, also sustain injuries to their fingers and require the same therapeutic consideration. Whereas cold treatment reduces debilitating swelling, heat treatment accentuates the healing process. Other injuries or conditions, such as arthritis, are preferably treated by applying heat to the injured area.
A major difficulty in treating fingers and thumbs lies in concurrently providing hot or cold exposure to all surfaces (top, bottom and sides) of the injured digit. Ice may satisfactorily cool a bodily injury, but it may be sharp, it must be contained in some containment means to prevent leakage, it cannot be reused, and its application is messy and inconvenient.
Alternative means to cool or heat injuries have been devised. U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,921 describes a heat and/or cold device in the form of a muff into which the hands, wrists, arms or legs can be inserted. U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,358 discloses a device featuring a plurality of compartments enclosing a therapeutic substance, that may be heated or cooled, which may be firmly positioned on various body portions using one or more strap means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,666 describes a thermal pack consisting of a porous outer bag and a nonporous inner bag for use in treating localized injuries such as the knee. U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,348 discloses a hot or cold pack with a main body portion and four radially extending portions attached thereto and integral therewith which is applied to a curved contour such as breast, knee, ankle, shoulder or other body areas. U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,220 describes a deformable bag comprised of small pieces of gel packed in a flexible envelope for use as a cooling medium which can be applied on different objects or portions having various configurations. U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,769 discloses a cooling device having a core of cold storing material sandwiched between two thin, flexible walls having different heat transfer rates such that the one side of the cooling device is colder to the touch than the opposite side of the device.
The means heretofore available are not efficient and comfortable modes of administering uniform cold/heat to the surface of a injured finger or thumb.
The present invention comprises a molded unit with multiple hollow chambers, in which a thumb and/or fingers can be inserted, and a heat transferring element, that can be heated or cooled, that are encased by the external walls of the molded unit. The entire outer surface of the hollow chambers are immersed in the heat transferring element thereby providing a uniform distribution of hot/cold exposure inside the chambers. The unit will be made of a durable, yet flexible, material that can withstand refrigeration, boiling and/or microwaving.